How a Chance Encounter Led to Performing with Mauro Albert in Brazil
It has always been a dream of mine to visit Brazil. It all started when I befriended a family from Rio when I was a Professional Snowboard Instructor in Lake Tahoe. I still remember meeting up with them for our second week of lessons together. A year had passed, and I wanted to become conversational in Portuguese. I purchased a few language CDs to practice my speaking skills. My accent was so bad, the entire family burst into laughter. Oh well, it’s the effort that counts, right?
Fast forward nearly six years later, and I was completely burnt out on touring. I knew I was seeking a career change. During this time, I discovered the Summer Intensive Portuguese Institute through the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I met the requirements of having intermediate Spanish credits. . . though they were from over a decade ago. I filled out the application, and to my surprise, I was accepted into the eight week intensive program. It certainly wasn’t easy touring full time while immersing myself in a foreign language all day, every day during the week. By the end of summer, I had completed the program with new friends, and my love of the Brazilian language and culture only deepened.
In March, I set off on an adventure to Florianópolis, or the “Magic Island” as some call it, with just a carry-on and my guitar. I was hoping to record a music video, and possibly even an album. While the music video happened, the album didn’t come to fruition. I did, however, have the privilege of performing with the virtuoso Manouche Jazz artist, Mauro Albert. How we met certainly wasn’t a coincidence. I was strolling down the cobblestone streets of Santo Antônio de Lisboa, one of my favorite sunset towns on the planet. The streets were practically empty, and I noticed a man passing on the other side of the road with a nice guitar case on his back. I crossed the road and chased after him, excuse me, I said in Portuguese, do you play guitar? Yes, he replied. I’ve been playing for over thirty years, and studying gypsy jazz for fourteen of them. I have dedicated my life to this discipline, my name is Mauro Albert. I continued to explain how I was an artist, and how it was a dream of mine to perform in Brazil. Send me your music, he said, I have a show in two days, if I like it, maybe you can play with me.
A few hours later I was relaxing and eating a delicious seafood meal while watching the lingering sunset colors over the bay, when I got the notification. Mauro officially invited me to perform with him! Not only that, he wanted a pic for a promotional flyer, and to rehearse the next day! I was ecstatic. The following day, I took an hour-long uber twisting along the beautiful Sambaqui coast to Mauro’s home. His quaint home resides on a hillside overlooking the bay, and is surrounded by nature and beautiful native plants. Mauro’s wife made us fresh herbal tea, which she handpicked from their garden. When I first sat down, Mauro pulled out his guitar and played an instrumental version of ‘Cobblestone Streets’. I was in awe, he is a true master of his instrument. I came to find out Mauro knows over two hundred gypsy jazz compositions, and he performs them in eight different tunings. We had a great rehearsal, and Mauro offered to sit in during my entire set at Casa Alto Lagoa.
When I arrived at Casa Alto Lagoa, I was in disbelief. Nestled in the hills above the magic island, the wedding venue has breathtaking views of the island, cities, and sea below. It was overall an unforgettable experience. My favorite part of the set was when I was performing one of my new songs, “First Light”. I was literally singing about rain falling in a sacred valley on Oahu in the song, when rain started to fall on the roof above us. Since the windows were open, the sweet jungle air filled the room with scents of tropical flowers, and for just a moment, everything was perfect. On top of this, the next verse talks about all the lights on the hillside in Honolulu. At that moment, the city lights were lit up before us, and I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with joy and gratitude.
I think the coolest part of meeting Mauro, other than being blown away by his virtuoso jazz skills, was the universal connection we had as musicians. While we barely spoke each other’s languages, we had an immediate connection through music. Despite having two totally different disciplines, there was a mutual understanding and respect between us. He explained to me about how the morning I met him, he had just told the venue owner he wasn’t sure if he was playing alone. He laughed as he told me how he felt crazy because he “just had a feeling” he wasn’t going to be playing alone. This inner knowingness brought us together. It was all around an adventurous, magical, bucket list experience.
Please check out Mauro Albert’s music! My favorite album of his is Optchá, though he sent me home with three to listen to, and they all were great. He has performed and recorded all over the world. He also teaches lessons over zoom, so don’t be afraid to reach out via WhatsApp: +55 48 99125-7289. You can follow Mauro Albert on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/mauroalbert_gypsyguitar/.
You can find his music on Spotify and Apple music in the States. I also highly recommend tuning in to one of his archived live concerts on his YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@mauroalbert_gypsyguitar.
After performing with Mauro, I went on to record a music video on the south part of the island. I linked up with Thai Okumura Vinaver, he used his drone and Sony camera to film the official music video for “Tower Hill”. It was edited by Matt Nemetz at Focal Fuse. You can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lI73z_G-GU.
Be sure to subscribe if you dig the tunes. Thanks again for your support. Thank you Mauro for learning my songs, and for sharing your stage with me!